Remember
by The-First-Polymythical
Summary: Sasuke sees his brother crying on the night of the Massacre and wonders why, if his brother has no heart, he shed tears over his family's death. But he has his own sharingan now, at the young age of eight, and intends to use it to find out the truth.
1. Knowing, Not Understanding

**I found this hidden in the deep bowels of my computer files a couple of days ago, and after re-reading it, thought that it wasn't bad. So I thought that I'd post it up and see if I could get a second opinion. It's only the first chapter, obviously, so I may write more. Or I may not. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but do have quite a few ideas I'd love to share with Kishimoto about where the story ought to go from here on out.**

* * *

Three hours after the Uchiha Massacre found Uchiha Sasuke sitting in the Hokage's office, eyes swollen and puffy from tears that he had promised himself he wouldn't shed, but had fallen anyways, raven hair a spikey mess atop his head, and wrapped in a soft, plush quilt that a medical ninja had given to him an hour and a half ago when she had (unsuccessfully) attempted to get him to rest for the night.

The young Uchiha sat in a chair far too large for him (his legs dangled over the edge) in front of the Hokage's desk, the Sandaime himself standing behind the slab of oak wood, a remorseful look in his eyes and his arms folded behind his back.

"Are you sure you are up to this so late, Sasuke?" the Hokage questioned, thinking that it may be best to let the child get some sleep before anything is expected of him. But Sasuke just shook his head and stared straight at the Hokage, his gaze watery, although the Sandaime thought he was trying to appear strong.

A slight sigh escaped the Hokage's lips, and he is walking around the desk so that he can stand by Sasuke, still in front of him, but a little off to the side and crouched down just slightly, so that he can better look the eight year old in the eyes.

"Tell me, what were you doing three hours ago?" Sarutobi asked, the question a formality, but really, all of them were. There was no real need to look into the Uchiha Massacre; the reasons for it and the culprit were already known. He had known before the murderer himself had. But Konoha would look into it none the less, just to put on a show for the other nations, and for its own people. It would be their way of covering up another one of their dark deeds, of hiding what had happened on this night instead of shedding some light on it. Because if anyone ever knew, well, surely nothing good could come from it.

Sasuke turned his head ever so slightly to look the Hokage full in the face, his expression becoming more rigid. And with it, the feeling of dread in Konoha's leader deepened.

"I was walking home. I had stayed late at the academy to practice some of my shuriken techniques, and was coming home late," the young raven stated, his tone surprisingly steady, although the Hokage noted how he hesitated slightly before saying the word "home".

"And then?" the Hokage prompted gently, the sadness in his eyes deepening. As selfish as it was, he hated this and wanted to get it over with. He didn't want to have to ask an eight-year-old child about the brutal murder of his family only three hours after it had happened. It was cruel.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, and Sarutobi could tell that he was composing himself so that he would not stutter over his words when he spoke.

"When I got back ho- . . . to the Uchiha Compound. . . everyone was. . . e-everyone w-was. . ." Sasuke stuttered, stumbling over his words as fresh tears brimmed along the edge of his onyx orbs. He sniffled, and opened his mouth to continue, but the Sandaime quickly hushed him. He would not let the boy finish such a morbid statement.

"Just tell me, Sasuke . . . who did this?" the Hokage asked, despite already knowing the answer. One of his wrinkled old hands was on the boy's shoulder now, the hold firm and reassuring, yet gentle at the same time. It was sad, how good he had gotten at being around orphans.

"It was Itachi, but Hokage-sama. . ." Sasuke began, only to let the words die off in the air.

The Hokage frowned slightly. "What is it Sasuke? Anything you have to say might be important."

Sasuke nodded absently, the look in his swollen eyes distant now.

The Hokage thought he was caught up in the trauma of the night for a moment and let the boy be, knowing that he would bring himself back to his senses in due time. And he was partly right; Sasuke _was_ lost in the world of his memories. They were of the massacre as well, although not of seeing the bodies of his parents lying dead on the floor, or watching the horrible scene created by his brother's terrible sharingan (a Sasuke in another world, another life, saw these things, but not him). No, Sasuke was thinking of Itachi himself . . . and how he had seen his brother cry. How he had seen the tears on his face as he stood apart from him, his dark eyes so sad that Sasuke thought he was imagining it. But no, the more he thought about it the surer he became, something had happened here that was not what is seemed. And Itachi had tried to hide it from him, lied to him so that he wouldn't know. But those tears changed everything. Itachi hadn't killed everyone out of some quest to test his own strength, why would he have silently mourned their death if he had? And Sasuke wanted to share that with everyone, too, wanted to share his brother's innocence, but something inside of him kept him quiet, whispered to him that this was a secret idea that was meant for him and him alone. Maybe it was the part of him that had been torn and scarred by his brother's Tsukiyomi, the part that saw the blood on his hands and trembled. Because, when Sasuke thought about it, he was still frightened of his brother. Possibly innocent or not, he had _killed_ everyone, and made him watch. It all was terribly terrifying, and Sasuke knew that he was never going to be able to come up with an answer tonight. _I just need some time to think_, he reasoned. So he said nothing, wondering if he would ever be able to overcome his fear enough to think about this rationally.

Instead, he turned to the Hokage, his eyes glowing an unearthly red, one tomoe hovering around each pupil. His tears had dried up, and the Hokage, looking into the young Uchiha heir's eyes, saw the fierceness of his blood thirsty clan hang there, although the emotion was softened by his childish face.

"I just thought you should know, Hokage-sama, that when I chased after Itachi, I awakened my sharingan."

/

"You want _me_ to take the kid in?"

The Sandaime nodded, a grim expression on his face (it had been stuck their lately, and he couldn't seem to get it off, no matter what he or anyone else did).

"I do. I know that you are not the sort of person to make an ideal guardian, but he needs to be around someone who can help him . . . someone who knows what it's like to lose their parents at a young age."

"Are you sure it's not just because of my sharingan?" the silver haired ninja asked, sounding skeptical, and not trying to hide it.

The Hokage chuckled lightly, although the sound did not hold the warmth that it usually did. "You've gotten me there. The boy's sharingan activated itself the night of the Massacre, and he needs someone who can teach him how to properly use it. That isn't the sort of thing that I want him messing around with on his own," the Hokage admitted, a slightly guilty expression falling on his face.

"But, Hokage-sama, I am an active member of the ANBU . . . surely you can find someone who has more time on their hands to care for him. What will I do if I am called away on a moment's notice? He can't just be left alone," the ANBU pointed out.

The Hokage nodded. "That's why I'm taking you off of active duty, for now. I need someone to look after Sasuke, and you are the most qualified."

The most qualified, the nin though, because he might have a chance of standing up to (or at least holding off) Uchiha Sasuke's older brother should he return to finish what he started, although he didn't say anything.

Sarutobi could tell that the young man before him wanted to protest further, although after a moment of stony silence relented.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. As you wish."

The Sandaime smiled good naturedly, thinking that this might not only be good for Sasuke, but his new guardian as well. The man could stand to bond with a few more people, even if they only were eight years old.

"Well then, why don't we go and introduce you to your new 'mission'? I'm sure he's tired of waiting."

In response, Hatake Kakashi just grunted.

/

Uchiha Sasuke was a quiet child, Kakashi observed. He had been introduced to the boy, taken him to his home (a small apartment he rented that, coincidently, had two bedrooms), and helped the boy unpack his possessions, all without the eight-year-old saying more than fifteen words.

It wasn't surprising though, really, since everyone the boy loved had either died or betrayed him in a single day and effectively uprooted his whole life. He had some right to silence, although Kakashi wondered how much was healthy for children, as if he hadn't been one at some point in his life. That time in his life seemed so long ago, (although it reality it hadn't been) like some life lived by a different person, a different Kakashi.

But those were musings better left to another time, and Kakashi didn't want to deal with them right now. He had better things to do than sit around and wallow in nostalgia. Things such as take care of an orphaned eight-year-old boy, who was now staring up at him with wide, tired grey eyes. An awkward silence had fallen over the room, and Kakashi wasn't sure how to fill it, or if he should even try.

After an unbearable moment Kakashi cleared his throat and suggested that they eat something for dinner. Sasuke nodded in agreement and followed Kakashi into the kitchen without saying a word. Kakashi, who wasn't used to cooking for anyone more than himself, ended up making ramen that Sasuke saw and then, in a way very characteristic of an eight-year-old, scrunched up his nose in disgust to.

"I don't like ramen," he commented, and Kakashi was secretly pleased to have gotten a reaction out of the boy about something so trivial. Sasuke did, however, eat the horrible, disgusting stuff, because he knew better than to whine about eating foods that he didn't like.

After that the raven cleared away the dishes, bowed, said good night, and disappeared into his room as if this was what he had been doing for every night in his life.

And Kakashi just sat there, wondering about the little enigma that had been dropped into his life.


	2. Mutual Awkwardness

**I decided to continue this. For now, at least. Mainly because of the couple of nice reviews I got (Lissie Lupin, magicaltoothbrush, Dragon77, and Gwenhyfer, you guess rock). Congrats to you guys, you actually got this lazy author off their ass for once. **

**A lot of this chapter (which is longer than the last one, by the way) was written at 1:30 in the morning. So that's my excuse for any nonsensical sentences or grammatical errors. **

**And leave me a review, if you'd be so kind. I've actually got a few ideas as to where I'd like this to be going (those, however, don't come in for a while). So, in the mean time, some feedback on my writing would be much appreciated.**

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?"

Sasuke jumped, caught completely off guard by Kakashi. The now ex-ANBU had come into the room so quietly that the raven hadn't even suspected anyone was there. It didn't help that Sasuke hadn't expected anyone to be there to begin with. Since even though he didn't know a lot about Kakashi, he had thought it would be alright for him to make the assumption that the older ninja didn't wake up at four in the morning. Too bad for him, Kakashi was a notoriously light sleeper, and had been awoken by the young Uchiha's attempts at silently going about his business.

There was an awkward moment when the two of them just stood there, Sasuke trying to keep the guilty look off his face. He wasn't doing anything particularly _bad_ but he was, after all, still a child who had been caught red handed.

Finally Sasuke spoke up, his face carefully kept neutral. "I'm going to the academy."

"At four in the morning?" Kakashi inquired, raising one eyebrow slightly.

"Yes."

Another awkward silence during which Kakashi wondered if it was normal for an eight-year-old child to want to go to school so early in the morning. That was when he realized _he_ had done something similar once, shortly after his own father had died, and decided that it probably wasn't.

"And what is it you plan on doing so early in the morning?"

"Train," Sasuke stated simply. The way he said it was void and emotionless, lacking any and all feelings. It was startling, how much this young boy Sasuke reminded him of a younger version of himself by saying that one, simple word. It was startling and sad because Kakashi could see a future lain out before the young boy like a path, and it was bleak; a gray, lonely future filled with nothing but senseless work that tried to cover up the emptiness, but still failed miserably in the end. And Kakashi would not wish that sort of thing on anyone so young, and so innocent. Well, perhaps not so innocent anymore. The fact remained the same: if something was not done soon, Sasuke would grow up a social recluse, gaining ninja skills but no friends. And in the end, he might not be so lucky as to have someone like Obito who could snap him out of it.

"No."

"No?" Sasuke tilted his head slightly, looking puzzled. Was the older ninja really telling him what he thought he was telling him?

"No." Kakashi stated again, this time more firmly.

"But why not?" Sasuke almost sounded like he was pouting that time. Almost.

"Because you are eight years old, and any sane eight-year-old boy should be sleeping at this hour," Kakashi explained, looking slightly amused with the boy who was so much like a younger version of himself.

"What if I'm not a sane eight-year-old-boy?" Sasuke questioned, returning Kakashi's amused expression.

"Then you still ought to be in bed."

Sasuke sighed. There wasn't going to be any getting around this, was there?

"Anything you need before you go back to sleep?" Kakashi asked in a sweet, bored-line mocking tone.

"No," Sasuke replied with a sigh, and then turned to go back to his room.

He was already thinking of ways that he could sneak out his window without Kakashi noticing.

/

Kakashi knew the moment Sasuke forced open his window by the way the smell changed. The window, letting in the cool, early morning air, also brought with it all the smells that Kakashi could easily identify as belonging to things that did not originate in his apartment. There was the smell of a ramen shop that was just across the street, a fresh hint of flowers and soil from the planter the women next store had on her porch, and the pungent sting of a leatherworker who was just a ways down the street. People didn't say that Kakashi had a nose better than an Inuzuka for no reason.

Instead, however, of stopping the young perpetrator as he exited the house (Kakashi would really have to talk to him about his sneaking skills later. Because really, any proper ninja new that if you got caught sneaking out once, you should wait at _least_ a half hour before trying again), Kakashi opted to follow him and observe. Sasuke, true to his word, went straight to the Academy (that was something else he was going to have to mention. Really, any ninja knew that you didn't head straight towards your mark) and began to move through a training routine in one of the school's small training fields.

Kakashi watched silently from his perch on a nearby roof top for the better part of an hour. Sasuke, it seemed, was just as serious about his training as he was about everything else. He would run through a single exercise for whatever skill he was honing (which happened to be shuriken throwing, at the moment) and then stop himself, asses the outcome of the drill, and the do his best to decide what about his technique needed refining. It wasn't a bad strategy, given the fact that the boy seemed acutely aware of all his mistakes. Sasuke's only problem was, however, very obvious. The young raven wasn't a master at any of the skills, nor did he have a master's knowledge. So, even though he was aware that he was making a mistake, he did not know the best way to go about fixing it. It often left him going through a process of trial and error, something that was not only time consuming, but not necessarily even fruitful. Sasuke might find a way that worked, but because he didn't know the fine details of the technique, he would often end up with a method that was manageable, but not the best or easiest. This sort of thing, while being unpredictable, was simply a disadvantage in the end because the skill was being performed in a fashion that was more taxing. And while this mattered little for simple things like shuriken throwing, it could mean the difference between life and death when it came to a jutsu.

So, after a good hour of leaving Sasuke to his own devises, Kakashi decided that it was time for him to step in. Teachers would, after all, begin arriving soon, and Kakashi wanted the young ninja gone before anyone could pester him.

"With a throwing technique like that, keeping your wrist so straight is about the worst thing you can do. Try loosening it up a bit, and then minimize the movements of your arms. You'll be less noticeable, and your aim will be more accurate."

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing his new guardian's voice. He had been trying so hard to keep his senses open! How could he still have been snuck up on like this?

Ever so slowly the young raven turned around, a dour expression on his face.

"Are you going to punish me?"

Kakashi stood there for a moment, his head titled slightly to the side in thought. Despite the fact that he thought he probably _should_ punish the kid for disobeying him, he found himself not wanting to. For starters, the young boy had been through so much so soon and well . . . a little acting defiant wasn't necessarily bad for him. Better to be a rebel then to completely retreat into himself, right? (Right? Kakashi really wasn't sure, but the idea made sense, at least to him.) The second thing had more to do with him than it did Sasuke. And that was the fact that Kakashi had absolutely no idea what you did to a kid who misbehaved. What sort of punishment was in order for something like this? Kakashi really didn't know, so didn't want to do something for fear of being too harsh and scaring the kid away from him.

He really was not cut out to be a parent.

"No, I'm not going to punish you," he stated, after a moment.

"You're not?" Sasuke looked genuinely surprised. It made sense, if Kakashi thought about it. He hadn't known Sasuke's parents, but if they were anything like the stereotypical Uchiha (which they probably were, given that they were the head of the clan) then they probably wouldn't have been the type of people to let any sort of misbehavior slide, no matter the situation.

"No, I'm not. But you're still coming back with me,"Kakashi added, much to Sasuke's disappointment.

"But why? I'm already out here-"

"Don't push it, kid."

That shut the young raven up very quickly.

He wasn't used to being able to get away with _anything_, so he couldn't help it if he tried to push it a little. Test his boundaries, and all.

"And you won't be going to the Academy today, either."

"What?!" Sasuke exclaimed. "I thought you said that you weren't going to punish me!"

"I'm not," Kakashi replied as he started back towards his apartment.

Sasuke had to rush to catch up with the older ninja's pace.

"Then why can't I go to the Academy? I don't want to fall behind!" Sasuke protested.

"You seem to forget that you have one of the most skilled shinobi in the village as you're guardian and teacher now."

"Oh yeah, who's that?"

To that, Kakashi fixed Sasuke with a hard stare as if you say "Really? You just went there?"

Sasuke just gave the older ninja a wide eyed look that said, "No really, who is it?"

After a long moment Kakashi sighed heavily and looked away.

"It's me, kid."

"What? No way," Sasuke mussed, looking not just a little suspicious.

"You better get used to it, kid, because I'll be the one teaching you how to use your sharingan from now on," Kakashi replied.

"How? It's not like you have one," Sasuke asked, looking, if possible, more suspicious then before.

"Have you ever heard of someone named Obito Uchiha, kid?"

"No," Sasuke replied, looking slightly put-off. He really hated being called "kid", but wasn't about to tell Kakashi that. He had already pushed his new guardian once today; he wasn't about to try it again.

Kakashi, sensing Sasuke's displeasure but not really knowing the source, decided to ignore it and continue on.

"It's because of him that I'm able to teach you."

"Okay," Sasuke said, his tone prompting Kakashi on. He had no idea where the jounin could be going with this.

But Kakashi didn't say anything, just continued on his way back towards his apartment in silence.

Sasuke didn't say anything, instead focusing on keeping pace with the older ninja, who either didn't notice that his longer legs gave him an unfair advantage, or just didn't care. Sasuke got a feeling it was the latter.

When the duo had finally arrived back at Kakashi's apartment, there was another one of those moments when the two of them simply stood there in mutual awkwardness of each other.

Kakashi could tell that the last thing the Uchiha considered this place was home. Home to him had to be the now empty Uchiha Compound, where he had lived for his whole life. Not this poorly taken care of apartment with a man that he didn't know, in a part of Konoha that was foreign to him.

And it showed in the way he wouldn't sit down unless invited to, or would always answer questions with "Yes, please" or "No, thank you" like he had probably been taught by his mother to do when in an outsiders house.

Kakashi didn't think that there would be any way to put the young Uchiha at ease, considering he was rather awkward in this house himself. He had rarely been here in all the years he had rented it, spending more time out on field missions for the ANBU than in his own home.

Finally, it occurred to Kakashi that it was now late enough in the morning (it was really only a little after five, but beggars couldn't be choosers) for him to use the excuse of making breakfast to get himself out of the room.

So he disappeared into the next room, leaving a very uncomfortable Sasuke to shuffle forward the few steps so he could hover by the doorway to the kitchen in silence.

He watched Kakashi bustle around, puling open cabinets and drawers like he was looking for something.

Sasuke wondered what it could possibly be that he couldn't find since a) the kitchen was fairly small and didn't possess a while lot of space for storing (or losing) things and b) there wasn't much in the little space there was. It was obvious that Kakashi either ate out a lot, or hadn't gone grocery shopping in a long time. Maybe both.

Finally he seemed to decide something, and ended up pulling an old box of cereal from the cabinet, along with a half full jug of milk from the fridge.

"Mind getting out a few bowls?" Kakashi asked, at last seeming to devote some attention towards Sasuke.

All Sasuke did was nod, and then make his way quietly into the room where he pulled two bowls from a shelf (he had to stand on the tips of his toes to reach) and then place them on the table without a word.

It seemed as though any curiosity or resentment from before had been washed away, and in its place was the same little boy from the night before; the one with the emotionless grey eyes and the stiff posture. How could his mood have shifted so quickly? Kakashi wanted to huff in exasperation. He had almost no idea what was going on in this kids head.

And he would continue to have no idea, as Sasuke did not offer up any sort of explanation as the two of them enjoyed a breakfast of stale cereal together in awkward silence.

"Why is it that I can't go to the Academy today?" Sasuke asked after he had stopped trying to eat the cereal, and just resorted to pushing it around the bowl with his spoon.

Kakashi (who wasn't actual eating even though he had poured himself a bowl as well) didn't reply right anyway, instead seemed to gather his thoughts.

In truth, Kakashi didn't really have a good reason to keep Sasuke away from the Academy. It was just a small, quiet voice in the back of his head that told him a boy so young, and so clearly heart-broken, should not have to face his peers the very next day. Surely they would ask him questions he was not ready to answer, and make things difficult for him when he so desperately needed them to be easy.

At the very least, that was what things had been like for him.

"Because I need you to go grocery shopping with me later today."

It was a lame excuse, and they both knew it (even if Kakashi really did need to get groceries).

But Sasuke knew better than to fight it at this point and instead picked up his bowl, rinsed it out, and placed it in the sink.

"Tell me when we're going to leave."

And with that, the raven disappeared into his room once again, leaving Kakashi just as clueless as how to act around him as before.


End file.
